Box Score WEST LONG BRANCH, NJ –
Dana Carbone (Toms River, NJ/Monsignor Donovan) scored a team-high 14 points and
Sarah Olson (Freehold, NJ/Howell [NJIT]) tallied the 1,000th point of her career, but the Monmouth University women's basketball team fell to Fairfield, 68-60, Saturday afternoon at the Multipurpose Activity Center. With the loss, the Hawks fall to 6-14 (4-7 MAAC), while the Stags improve to 11-10 (6-6 MAAC) with their fifth win in their last six games.
Carbone did her damage on 5-of-8 shooting from the floor, including 4-of-7 from long range. She also dished out a team-best three assists. Olson added 11 points and six rebounds, while
Christina Mitchell (Baltimore, MD/MATHS) and
Jasmine Walker (North Brunswick, NJ/North Brunswick) scored eight points apiece. Mitchell also grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds.
Kelsey Carey led all scorers with 24 points for Fairfield. Kristin Schatzlein added 20 points, seven rebounds and seven assists, while Casey Smith scored 12 points. Lizzy Ball had a strong all-around game with five points, seven rebounds and seven assists, while Samantha Cooper narrowly missed a double-double with seven points and 10 rebounds.
The Hawks opened the game with the first four points and never trailed in the first half. Monmouth forced Fairfield into 15-straight missed field goals in a stretch of over 10 minutes to end the first quarter and begin the second. Monmouth took a 10-5 lead after one and the Hawks' lead extended to 12-5 on a Bethune driving lay-up to open the second quarter. The Stags immediately cut the deficit to three with four-straight points from Carey and cut it to two, 16-14, on another Carey fast-break lay-up at the 4:44 mark. But Monmouth held onto the lead for the remainder of the half, thanks in large part to five points from Carbone in the final five minutes of the period.
Carbone led the Hawks with five points at the break, while Olson, Walker and Mitchell added four points apiece. Mitchell also grabbed six boards. Carey led Fairfield with 11 points, while Cooper had six rebounds for the Stags.
The Hawks built a six-point lead on a three from Purvis in the opening minute of the third quarter. But Fairfield would go on a 12-2 run to take the lead and never trailed again. Carey scored six points in the spurt. The Hawks trailed by three after three periods and it was still a four-point game following a Bethune putback with 6:55 remaining in the fourth quarter. But Fairfield scored 12 of the next 15 points to open its largest lead of the game, 57-44, with 2:29 left. Carbone knocked down a pair of threes to cut the deficit to single digits, but Monmouth couldn't cut the Stags' lead to fewer than seven points the rest of the way.
For the game, Fairfield outshot the Hawks, 39.7 percent (23-58) to 32.9 percent (25-76) from the floor. Both teams shot 28.6 percent from long range, with Monmouth (8-28) hoisting twice as many attempts as Fairfield (4-14). The Hawks made both of their free throws for 100 percent shooting from the charity stripe, but Fairfield more than made up for the percentage differential with quantity of attempts (18-21/85.7 percent). Monmouth took a 48-39 advantage on the glass, including a 17-5 edge in offensive rebounds. Monmouth's bench also outscored that of Fairfield, 36-0.
The Hawks return to action Tuesday morning, when they play host to Manhattan. Opening tip of the Kids Day matinee at the Multipurpose Activity Center is slated for 11 a.m.
